Private Equity Software. What it should look like!

Private Equity Software? CEPRES PE.Analyzer

Traditionally, much of private equity investing was based on handshakes. As the saying goes, “Business is based on relationships”, and for private equity, that would mean sumptuous lunches and dinners in lavish hotels with meetings squeezed in between coffee-breaks and a cocktail reception at the end of a long day. Whether it’s a private equity fund AGM, a private equity conference, or a due diligence session arranged by the GP, that is how relationships are built between GPs and LPs. Intertwined with this relationship-building are emails peppered with PPMs, marketing teasers and slide decks, and of course, the infamous Excel spreadsheet. LPs run the numbers, they ask for more track record data from the GP, the GP processes those LP requests and provides more data, LPs run the numbers again, and then perhaps after a few iterations they eventually make an assessment and investment decision. If things work out, the GP and LP are happy to consummate their relationship (i.e. “partnership”) in the new fund. If things don’t work out, the GP is already moving on to the next LP and so is the LP, seeking out the next GP. A double espresso or champagne, anyone?

Leveraging the Power of Private Equity Software

While there is nothing wrong with being old-school for certain things in life, there is no denying that this Private Equity Dance can definitely use a dose of technology. Private Equity Software, to be precise. Sure, there is no substitute for building relationships, but we can definitely do away with the tedious and painful part of requesting data, processing data, manipulating Excel, asking for more data, etc. Even if you’re only looking at a few funds per year (LP) or only talking to a handful of LPs for your fundraising (GP), it still makes sense to try optimize the process and enhance your outcomes. The private equity market has grown tremendously over the past 10 years and it just keeps growing, so more likely than not, you (LP) are looking at several funds per month and you (GP) are trying to expand your LP base. With more GPs and LPs in this growing market, this Private Equity Dance can be overwhelming and strain internal resources for both GPs and LPs.

By leveraging the power of Private Equity Software, GPs and LPs can overcome these strains and optimise resources, while still building industry relationships and maintaining a firm handle on fundraising and due diligence. CEPRES’ private equity software PE.Analyzer, a standardised information exchange and due diligence analysis platform, empowers both GPs and LPs.

Prepare. Get Verified. Upload

For GPs, you simply prepare your track record data once, get it verified by CEPRES and uploaded into a secure, private and confidential data room that only you have control of, and then get consultation from CEPRES investment professionals to go through your track record data room together with you and identify your strengths and weaknesses from a LP’s perspective. Analysing and understanding your track record through the eyes of LPs before actually talking to LPs during your fundraising is critical. Now you are ready to invite as many as LPs as you wish to your track record data room for due diligence. You don’t need to produce different variations of your track record spreadsheet for different LPs or provide separate answers to separate questions because the entire data processing is standardised and dictated by the private equity software PE.Analyzer.

The Online Software both LPs and GPs do not want to miss

For LPs, once you receive an invitation to a GP’s track record data room, you simply login to PE.Analyzer and perform your track record analysis directly in the online software. CEPRES PE.Analyzer is an award-winning private equity software that provides you with sophisticated analysis capabilities at your fingertips. Performance attribution, liquidity and J-curve, default analysis, operating analysis including value creation, financing structure, deal pricing, leverage analysis, fund and deal benchmarking, PMEs, PrMEs, and much more; everything you need for your due diligence is integrated into one platform. And like for GPs, the LPs also benefit from this track record data management and due diligence processing standardisation.

Software cannot replace relationships

Clearly, both GPs and LPs stand to benefit from the private equity software PE.Analyzer because it allows each to streamline and scale their internal processes as more GPs and LPs enter the ever growing private equity market. However, neither GP investor relations professionals or LP investment professionals should be concerned because private equity software cannot replace relationships. GPs still need to meet LPs and have dialogue with them to explain their investment strategy, review investment case studies, their war stories and battle scars vis-a-vis lessons learned, and “soft” topics such as partner succession planning, team turnover, compensation and incentive scheme for team members, and other “talking points” that are, well, for talking and would be discussed during meetings. Sure, you could argue that many GPs provide a Due Diligence Questionnaire document that might address all of these soft topics, but most LPs still prefer to sit down with the GP and perform personal interviews to talk about these issues. Likewise, LP investment professionals need to interpret the analysis results generated from PE.Analyzer and discuss these assessments with the GPs, perform the interviews and the qualitative due diligence, make the reference check calls, and perhaps even go onsite to visit portfolio companies to talk to management teams. Finally, LPs also have their own Investment Committees and internal documentation and approval processes that require investment professionals to manage. No one needs to worry about private equity software.

So let’s all raise up our champagne glasses and have a toast! To CEPRES PE.Analyzer, private equity software designed and engineered for GPs and LPs!